Modern people wear clothes not just for keeping warm but also for beauty. However, in the old time, clothing is more often related to religious culture. Some tribes still keep these clothes in the traditional ritual, but as the time flows and internationalization, the clothing gradually submerge in the memory of people, their implications behind also gradually disappear. Including the world’s oldest mask, let’s take a look at 10 mysterious and charming tribal clothing.
1 The Shaman of Yup’Ik
Living on the harsh and cold Siberia , for Yup’Ik, Shaman is the religion center of hunting society. They wear wooden mask painted color wood, praying that the hunting successfully and smoothing the soul of the preys. Shaman also play the role of physician in tribe. Those who are sick rely on their prayer exorcism. But as the Europeans arrived in the America, and the Christian culture moved in, the Shaman masks became decorative artifacts on the wall.
2 The dancing costumes of Navajo
In the 1930s, a photographer named Edward Curtis captured the dance rituals of the nomadic Navajo tribe in the Indian state of India.The men in this dance, dressed in costumes, wear masks that symbolize their gods “Nayenezgani,” dancing to help or ward off evil spirits.
3 The Seklnam’s monster
The aborigines on Fire island in southern Chile are dressed up like the Pyramid Head of the silent hill to scare children into adulthood. They’ll take the boy to the dark room, and then the creepy guy will jump out and scare the children! Of course not simply to frighten the child! When children scared, the adults will take off the mask and narrate about their myths and story. In their story, women used to rule the world and used these masks to scare man. One day, the Sun Man found that under these masks was a weak woman rather than a monster.So men defeated woman and regained ruling power.
4 The Aztec mask
Mask of the Aztecs not only looks like a man’s skull, actually it is made of the skull. The Aztec warrior will peel off his opponent’s face and decorate the skull with black stones, wood, or obsidian , sometimes with false eyes and teeth. These masks were used as decorative works of art, or buried in the tombs of the aristocracy.
5 The Asaro Mudman 
The arsalo warriors are covered with white clay and ghostly masks when they are about to battle.According to their legend, in the past, the Arsalo were attacked by enemy tribes, they fled to the Arsalo River and covered by the white mud .When they back to the village , because the body were white ,the enemy saw them as ghost, so the enemy ran away. After that,The arsalo warriors dress up like that to scare the enemy.
6 Tibetan Citipati Masks
When Tibetan monks perform king-kong dance, their clothing are various.The Sitavana Mask is particularly scary, mostly as a pair of double dancing skeletons. This mask is a repeat of the Lord of the graveyard.
7 The Mongolian Shaman
Before the popularization of Buddhism, Mongolia has a lot of Shaman dressing bizarre.They think antlers give them quick speed, eagle feathers give them strength,and the owl feathers can help them see clearly in the night.
8 Kwakiut’s dancing clothes
The traditional art is a very important culture in Kwakiut’s society. It is also a necessary technology for every teenager.The ceremony dress is called “potlatches”. Kwakiuts will gather on to give each other gifts and arrange the wedding , wearing masks, dressed in clothing dancing to summon powerful gods, or show their ancestors used to live with these supernatural being.
9 Warumungu’s body painting
The Warumuna, a native tribe of northern Australia, has a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation before being forcibly removed from their land. They decorate each other’s clothing, wear hats made of bark, and paint red or white ribbons in the body to play hunting, romance, combat,or the story of ancestors and gods.They would teach men how to get help from the gods, which can’t be known by outsiders or women.
10 The world’s oldest mask
So when did humans start wearing masks? The earliest, at least 9000 years ago!These oldest masks from Judean Hills of Israel revealed the answer. Experts said that they were made of the old men’s skull, shaping human face. Historians believe that these mask should be the farmer used to tell the story about ancestors.
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